Child Soldiers
by McKennaC
Summary: When the Avengers investigate an illegal lab that's putting off radiation similar to the Tesseract, they find three young boys from another universe. While trying to send them home, they discover that the kids have abilities that rival their own. How can they handle having three child heroes in the tower?
1. Chapter 1

A/N **Hey all. I love the thought of the big, bad Avengers meeting the small, equally bad junior partners to the Justice League. So, I decided to write one. This is the result of conversations I've had with several friends, and I hope to do them justice. Well Read and Review and all that jazz. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Avengers nor Young Justice. I am simply putting out some ideas of mine.**

"Is everyone clear on the mission?" Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America, addressed his team, the Avengers, glancing back from his seat beside the pilot.

Clint Barton, a.k.a Hawkeye, glanced up from the controls briefly to give his leader a small nod, followed directly by his long time partner Natasha Romanoff's affirmative grunt.

"We gain access to this illegal lab, get information on the weird energy signature that Fury mentioned, investigate all the ongoing experiments, and get the information back 'ol one eye," Tony Stark replied, his voice clearly demonstrating just how bored he was with the whole plan as he absently spun his Iron Man helmet in his hands.

"Excellent, Man of Iron," Thor thundered, tightening his grip on his hammer in his excitement for the battle to come.

"And I am supposed to keep out of the way and help you to examine the experiments once you gain access to the main lab," Bruce Banner continued, managing to sound only marginally more interested than Tony. But then again, it was good for the Hulk to have good control over his emotions.

"Good," Steve commended them, habitually ignoring Tony's bad attitude. "Fury said that the energy signature was similar to that of the Tesseract, though not nearly to that scale. It is still worrying enough that we want to know what's going on. It could be nothing, but we cannot risk any form of that technology falling into the wrong hands."

He fell silent as Clint brought the jet down in front of the dark institutional building. "What is with this place?" Tony muttered, putting his helmet on. "I mean seriously," he continued, his voice now overladen with an electronic quality, "I've seen prisons with more personality."

Steve had to agree. It was not a nice looking building. Taking a steadying breath, Steve led his team inside, letting himself absorb the deafening sound of the alarm as he readied himself for his mission.

YJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJ

The sudden sound of the alarm startled three young boys out of their sleep. A red-headed teenager groaned as the small child laying on his chest grabbed his neck in a death grip, frightened by the loud noise.

"Whas goin' on?" the middle boy slurred, sitting up from his position curled up in the oldest boy's side and rubbing his eyes.

"I don't- OW, Dick, let go- I don't know Wally," the oldest sighed, moving the tiny black haired boy onto his lap so that he could sit up. He hit the light switch and glanced quickly around the small room that had been their home for the past few months. It was sparse and institutional, with only the narrow bed the three boys were currently curled up on, a small bathroom and shower, and a few old books stacked in the corner.

Suddenly, the door to their cell shook with a loud clang. _Okay, _the teenager thought, gathering the smaller boys closer, _this is either good or really, _really _bad._

"Roy?" Dick asked, looking up at the teen. "Do you think somebody's here to rescue us?"

Roy sighed as Wally turned to look up at him as well, sudden hope shining in both their eyes. "I don't know, guys." He hated to disappoint his little almost-brothers, but just because he was the oldest didn't mean that he had all the answers. "I don't know if there's anyone _to _rescue us here. You know what those scientists said. They pulled us into another universe. We don't even know if there _are _superheroes in this universe."

"We don't know that there aren't," Wally pointed out, ever the optimist. "I mean, somebody's coming through that door either way. We might as well hope it's a good guy. That way even if he kills us, we die happy."

Dick looked up at him and shook his head. "Wow, Walls. Way to turn the optimism thing completely on its head. It sounded like you were channeling Bats for a second there."

"Listen guys," Roy interrupted. "We need a plan. As much as I hate it, I think the 'innocent children' act is our best bet. Dick, I think you should stay quiet and play little, at least until we have more information."

Dick made a face but didn't argue. He knew the 'innocent little baby' act had come in handy before and likely would again before he got too big for it. He was so small for his age that if they didn't hear him speak, many adults mistook him for a much younger child, especially if some-one was carrying him.

Roy gathered the younger children closer to him as the heavy door began to give way. "Remember guys," he whispered, "we're scared children unless we absolutely have to fight. We are not a threat, we are not aware of changing universes, and we are not Speedy, Kid Flash, and Robin."

AYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJA

Steve grunted in satisfaction as the door began to give way. It was his and Banner's job to get the main experiment while Stark and Widow got all of the information they could off of the main computers.

He made eye contact with Bruce to let him know they were nearly through. The scientist gave him a calm nod and took a step back to let him know that he understood that he was to wait for the all clear. As the door broke in, Steve hurried past to check for danger.

He froze in place as he took in the sight before of him.

The room was a simple bedroom, and curled up on the bed were three small children. He blinked in shock and turned to call to his companion. "Bruce? You're gonna want to see this."

As Banner joined him, Steve could see his own shock reflected in the man's eyes, followed by a hollow rage. Whatever these criminals had been experimenting on, it appeared that they had been testing it on _children._

It was three boys, the younger two curled close to the oldest, who was glaring at them fearfully, obviously willing to fight to protect his small charges. Steve felt his heart give a painful squeeze; the kid couldn't be more than thirteen.

Steve took a step forward, but paused when the smallest boy let out a fearful whimper. He put his hands up and smiled gently at the child. "Go get the others," he said to Bruce, not taking his eyes off of the three small figures on the bed. "Keep them out and don't tell them, I'll bring these guys out in a minute." He could see Banner nod and watched him leave out of the corner of his eye.

He took slow, easy steps until he was just a foot or so away from the kids and then knelt down to their level.

"Hello," he greeted them softly. He had to fight to keep the smile on his face as he saw the bruises and welts that covered their skin, particularly the eldest. _He must have taken the brunt of it to protect the little ones, _Steve thought, feeling a budding respect for the young boy. "My name is Steve Rogers. I'm also known as Captain America. What are your names?"

The oldest boy was watching him warily. Steve took a moment to study all of the children. The oldest had red hair and brown eyes, and as he thought, was about thirteen years old.

The middle one was curled up to the teen's side; he also had red hair, and was peering up at Steve with frightened green eyes. He couldn't be more than ten.

The youngest was sitting in the first's lap. He looked about five or six, with black hair, slightly dusky skin, and the brightest blue eyes that Steve had ever seen. Recognizing some of the little boy's features, he guessed that he was of Romani heritage.

As he blinked fearfully up at Steve, the former World War II soldier was reminded sharply of the children of his race that he had saved from Nazi extermination camps. One of them may well have been this boy's grandfather, he realized.

The oldest boy nodded, seeming to come to a conclusion about the situation. He looked up at Steve almost defiantly and told him, "My name is Roy Queen."

Clearly taking his cue from Roy, the second red-head chimed in. "I'm Wally Allen."

The black haired boy swallowed before adding, "Dick Wayne." Steve smiled slightly upon hearing the slight accent in the boy's voice. Defiantly Romani.

"So, kids," Steve began, smiling in earnest now. "What are you doing here?"

"The scientists locked us in," Wally replied, looking like he was questioning Steve's intelligence.

"Okay," Steve chuckled, amused by the little red-head's spunk. "How about we get out of here? The rest of my team should be waiting outside for us. After that we'll take you to our jet, get the heck out of here, and then we'll go from there. Okay?"

Roy nodded. "Alright." He stood up, settling Dick on his hip with what Steve noticed was practiced ease.

Steve held his arms out to Wally. "Is it okay if I carry you, little guy?"

Wally glanced nervously up at Roy. Once he got the older boy's nod of approval, he allowed the Super Soldier to pick him up.

Steve could see the other Avengers' eyes widen as they caught sight of his young charges. "Umm, Cap?" Tony spoke up. "Who exactly are they?"

Steve put a hand on Roy's shoulder. "Roy Queen." He moved it to Dick's head. "Dick Wayne." He bounced Wally slightly on his hip, earning a soft laugh from the boy. "Wally Allen."

"Okay," Iron Man replied, "but what are they doing here?"

Bruce spoke up. "From what we can tell," he began, the anger in his voice making them all a little nervous, "they were part of the experiments."

Any worry about their comrade's control was immediately lost as the heroes heard that, replaced with a blind fury that possibly rivaled the Hulk's. Steve caught a meaningful look passing between Clint and Natasha, and realized that any scientists that were proven to have a part in this crime were unlikely to live long past their capture.

But, catching sight of a large hand-shaped welt on little Dick's face, the super soldier couldn't quite bring himself to disapprove.

"We can talk on the jet," Bruce spoke up. "We need to get these kids out of here before there's a fight."

While Steve voiced his agreement, Bruce calmly made his way over to Roy. "Here, let me carry Dick," he said reaching out to the little boy. Seeing Roy's reluctance, he smiled gently at them both. "It's okay," he assured them in the same tone he had perfected for soothing sick and injured children while hiding from the army. "My name is Bruce Banner. This is my team, the Avengers. Our leader, Cap, is carrying Wally. My other teammates are Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. We just want to get you out of here so we can start trying to get you home."

Roy still hesitated, but Dick obediently held his arms out for the man to take him. Bruce smiled as he gently settled the small boy on his hip, then frowned when he noticed how light Dick felt. He had to be underweight.

The Avengers returned to the jet, Steve and Bruce staying close to Roy so that the boys stayed in sight of each other. They each settled into seats on either side of the young teen, with one of the younger boys on their laps.

All three of the children visibly relaxed as the jet took off. "So, where are we going?" Roy asked curiously, and Bruce and Steve both found themselves on the business end of a set of wide, innocent eyes.

"We're headed to Avengers Tower," Tony informed them.

"Where's that?" Dick asked sleepily, his head drooping against Bruce's chest.

The Avengers chuckled at Tony's affronted expression. "Where's that?!" he snapped at Dick.

The little boy's eyes widened fearfully and he pressed himself closer to Bruce, who tightened his arms around him protectively. "I-I'm sorry Mr. I-iron Man. I d-didn't me-mean to ..."

Tony wilted under his teammates' and the older boys' furious glares. He winced slightly as Natasha smacked him on the back of the head. "I'm sorry, kid. I'm not mad, just surprised. And you don't have to call me Mr. Iron Man. My name's Tony. And that's Natasha and Clint at the controls."

Roy sighed when the smallest boy didn't look reassured. He reached over and ran his hand through the boy's ebony hair. "It's alright Dickie. He's just an idiot, he won't hurt you."

"Avengers Tower is where we live," Steve informed them, throwing a quick glare at Tony before smiling reassuringly at Dick. "It's in New York City. Once we get there, we'll have Dr. Banner there look you over to make sure those guys didn't hurt you, and we'll start working on getting you home."

"We're landing," Clint informed them as the jet began its decent onto the landing pad on the roof of Avengers Tower, formerly Stark Tower.

Bruce and Steve stood up to exit the jet, keeping their respective charges in their arms. Clint gently took Roy's arm to lead the teen along behind his teammates and the boy's friends.

Pepper was waiting to greet them. "Hey, guys." She smiled as Tony came up to kiss her.

"Hey, Pep. You'll never guess what we found in the lab."

"What?" She gasped as she caught sight of the boys. "They were being held in that lab?" she breathed in horror. When she saw Steve's tightly controlled nod, her jaw clenched in fury before she took a deep breath and focused her attention of the three children.

"Hello," she greeted them gently. "My name is Pepper." Roy and Wally returned her greeting, but Dick simply hid his face in Bruce's shoulder. As they arrived in the lab, Bruce and Steve set the boys on the examination table and Roy hopped up to join them.

"Okay," Tony began. "My AI, JARVIS, is listening in to this conversation."

"How long were you held in that room?" Natasha asked them.

"Ever since they brought us there," Wally replied. "It was just after my birthday,so, March 12th?"

"You were held there for six weeks?" Pepper choked.

Roy shrugged. "I guess. It was kind of hard to tell how much time passed, because we never saw a calender or anything."

"Did you guys know each other before that lab?" Steve asked.

"Yes, sir," Roy answered.

"We're brothers!" Wally broke in.

"You are?" Bruce asked in surprise. "But you all have different last names."

"We're adopted," Roy explained calmly.

"So you're all into adopted by the same family?"

"No," Roy replied. "Our dads are all friends and we were adopted pretty close to each other, so we're pretty close."

"Can you tell us your full names?" Tony asked.

Roy looked up at him. "Roy Matthew Harper Evanson Queen."

Wally swung his feet and smiled. "Wallace Rudolf West Allan."

Dick glanced around nervously. "Richard John Grayson Wayne."

"Alright," Bruce encouraged them. "I'm just going to look you guys over to make sure you aren't hurt from your time in that lab. The others are going to go start looking into finding your parents, okay?"

The rest of the Avengers and Pepper left Bruce to his work and went off to do theirs. They had three little boys who had been away from home for far too long already.

**Hope you like it so far. I took the route of giving the kids their mentors' last names. They were all legally adopted in this. I don't know if Roy has a middle name, so I just dubbed him Matthew. I also don't know what Brave Bow's legal name would be, so I just made up Evanson as well. I figure he if he had adopted Roy (he did in this) he would have the name that the government saw him as. The boys are playing innocent for now, but the Avengers had better look out for when they show their true colors.**


	2. Chapter 2

A/N ** Hey everyone. Thank so much to everyone who reviewed, liked, and followed. To answer someone's question, my updates will probably be pretty sporadic. I'll just upload what I've got whenever I feel I've gotten to a decent stopping point. I'll try not to go longer than about a week between updates, but I may be late as I get closer to finals and such in school. Anyway, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers or Young Justice. **

"Can you find _anything?" _Steve demanded. They had been watching Tony do his computer thing for almost half an hour. Clint had gone to the store to get a few necessities such as clothes and toiletries for the boys so that they could get out of the thin sweats and slippers the scientists had given them to wear. Thor was happily eating pop tarts in the kitchen.

"No," Tony growled in annoyance. "There is no sign of any of those kids anywhere in any records. They have very definitive names, and if they're adopted those records should be available. I mean, come on! Roy Matthew Evanson Queen? How many of those could there be?!"

"None apparently," Natasha stated dryly.

"But that doesn't make sense," Steve protested. "Their adoption records or school records have to be somewhere. Especially Dick's! He has a Romani accent! There would have to be some record of him entering the country."

"I don't know what to say, Cap," Tony sighed. "As far as I can tell, these kids don't exist."

"Well," Steve shook his head, "I didn't get the feeling that they were lying to us, but I suppose they could have been taken from somewhere else."

"Cap, think about it for a moment. They weren't surprised to be saved by heroes, they speak perfect English, even if Dick – and what kind of name is that anyway?!- has a foreign accent, it's barely noticeable and to be fair, we did wake them up at two o'clock in the morning. The only other place these kids could be from is another universe," he joked.

They all just stared at each other for a minute, thinking about that statement.

Finally, Tony sighed. "I'll look into it. And isn't _that _just sad?"

"Do you mean that we are actually considering that those boys are from another universe, or the fact that you've already made technology that will allow you to test that?" Natasha asked.

Tony gave her a dirty look and didn't reply.

Just then Bruce came came into the room. "Hello, Bruce. Are the kids okay?" Steve asked, looking up at his friend. What he saw made his stomach sink.

Bruce was walking with the deliberate slowness of someone who was trying very hard not to scream at somebody. His face had a slight green tinge to it, but instead of his usual 'close to Hulking out' green, it was a far more mundane, but considerably more disturbing, 'I've just seen something utterly horrifying and think I may be physically sick' green.

Pepper looked up from the paper work she had been absorbed in at the kitchen table, and blanched at Bruce's expression. "Please tell me those monsters didn't do anything irreversible to those poor children."

Bruce took a deep breathe in an attempt to control his emotions and his stomach. "I don't think this has anything to do with their captivity in that lab. It's too old for that."

"What are you talking about?" Steve demanded, an uneasy feeling beginning to blossom in his gut.

"I think you should just come and see for yourselves," Bruce sighed. He shook his head, running a hand through his hair. "I'm honestly not sure that I could keep the Other Guy away if I tried to just tell you."

He led the others back into the lab, Tony hanging back for a moment to set JARVIS's system to check the boys for any radiation that would indicate them being pulled though a portal from another universe.

He caught up to the others just before they entered the lab. At first, they couldn't see anything wrong. From Bruce's behavior, they expected somebody to be crying or screaming, but the boys were simply sitting calmly on the examination table, looking a bit confused and tired, but no worse than when they had left them the first time.

"What is it, Bruce?" Steve asked, puzzled. "They all look fine to me."

"Just wait," Bruce replied. He took a deep breath and walk over to Dick's side. "Dick, I'm going to have you take off your shirt again, okay? Then I'm going to help you stand up on the table so that the others can see you."

Dick nodded nervously. "Okay," he whispered. Roy reached over to squeeze his hand quickly.

Bruce smiled reassuringly before pulling off Dick's gray tee-shirt. He then picked the boy up under his arms and set him on his feet on the examination table. Once the little boy was standing, Bruce stepped back so that the others could see him clearly.

Steve's eyes widened in horror.

Pepper gasped and pressed her hands to her mouth as if trying to make sure that her stomach didn't try to rebel against her.

Natasha's eyes narrowed slightly.

Thor let out a strangled breath, "Odin's beard."

For once, Tony had nothing to say, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly.

While standing on the table, Dick's head came up to about Steve's height. The poor boy was thin enough that the outline of his ribs could be seen, and his abdomen was covered with scars.

Like Bruce had said, the scars were older that six weeks, but weren't old either. They were still the light pink of new scar tissue. And they were not caused by any accident.

The scars on his stomach were ragged and over lapping, like someone had taken a knife and run it back and forth across his skin over and over again. There was one on his left hip that looked like a stab wound and one on his right shoulder that had to have been made by a _gun shot._

_ Who the heck would stab and shoot a little kid!? _Steve though in horror.

The most disturbing scar was on the left side of Dick's chest, just over his heart. Someone had carved the letter J into his flesh.

"Who," Pepper choked on the words, "who did that to you?" She looked like she wanted to simultaneously hug that little boy to her chest and hunt down and kill whoever had hurt him.

Dick lowered his head, avoiding everyone's eyes. "A lot of people," he whispered softly. "Before Daddy took me in. It's hard being a minority in foster care, 'Specially when you don't speak English that well." The boy sat back down, refusing to say any more. Roy reached over and pulled him into his side.

"Hey, everyone!" Clint's sudden exuberant greeting made everyone except Natasha jump. Natasha also noticed that little Dick didn't jump either, but she honestly didn't think too much about it.

"I brought the clothes," Clint continued, his voice softer as he took in his teammate's somber expressions. He held up a four large sacks full of children's clothing, toiletries, and to everyone's surprise and Pepper's high approval, two teddy bears. He regarded them silently, his eyes eyes hardening as his sharp gaze caught sight of Dick's still bare chest.

Deciding to take care of the boys before asking, he knelt down in front of them, keeping his expression open and friendly. He opened the bag and handed Dick and Wally each a teddy bear before giving all three set of pajamas to Roy. "Here, guys. Why don't I take you to a bathroom to get dressed and brush your teeth, and then we'll find you a room to sleep in. That sound good?" The boys nodded and hopped off of the table.

As soon as Wally's feet hit the floor, he collapsed.

"Wally!" Dick yelped and Roy dropped the clothes as he caught his friend.

"What happened?" Bruce asked, rushing to the boy's aid.

Roy sighed, setting Wally gently on the ground. "His blood sugar must have crashed."

"Natasha, go get some juice and Steve, some food. Something with protein." As they ran to do as Bruce said, he turned back to Roy. "He's diabetic?" Bruce asked in alarm.

Roy shook his head. "Hypoglycemic. They weren't giving us each enough food to keep him healthy, so Dick and I ended up having to give him most of ours. It still wasn't quite enough, but it kept us all alive."

Natasha and Steve returned, Natasha with a bottle of orange juice and a glass and Steve with a bowl of cold left over stew.

Bruce sat down beside Wally and pulled the little boy into his lap as Natasha poured him a glass of juice. She handed it to him and he gently urged Wally to drink it. While Wally was drinking down the bottle, Tony took the cold stew from Steve and microwaved it.

By the time Wally had finished off the orange juice and stew, he was looking almost back to normal. Clint helped him up and he and Steve took the boys to get ready for bed, and the rest of the Avengers returned to the living room.

It wasn't until Steve and Clint returned that JARVIS finished his scan.

"Sir," the AI spoke up. "I have the results of the scans you ordered on young Mr. Queen, Mr. Allan and Mr. Wayne. They were indeed saturated with the energy required in inter universal travel."

Tony sighed. "Thanks, JARVIS."

"You are welcome, Sir."

"Wait, what?" Clint broke in. "Did he just say ..."

"Yep," Tony replied. "We have visitors from another universe."

"Now the question is," Pepper spoke up, "how the heck do we get them home?"

**Well there's my chapter. This is mostly just time for Dick, Wally and Roy to feel out the Avengers. Pretty soon they'll start showing their true colors. Do you like what I did with Bruce finding Dick's scars? Fighting Gotham villains is worse than in Central or Star, so it makes sense that Robin would get seriously injured more. And do you like that Roy passed off Wally's speedster metabolism as hypoglycemia? I thought it would be the best way to explain it while keeping the secret. Please review if you feel so inclined. **


	3. Chapter 3

A/N **Hello, everyone. Sorry about the wait. Saturday is my main writing day, and I had a busy Easter weekend, so I didn't get as much done as usual. Here's what many of you have been waiting for, the beginning of the Truth!**

**Special thanks to Purple Pixie5 for informing me that Roy's middle name is, in fact, William. I love it when my ignorance is cured!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriously, people, none of it is mine.**

"Roy. Roy!"  
Roy woke up with a groan. He felt like he had just fallen asleep, but it only took him a moment to remember yesterday's events and sit up with a jerk.

Dick was sitting up next to him, the holographic screen of his computer wrist watch casting a greenish glow on his face in the dim room. He was tapping quickly and methodically on the controls as he did-as Wally tended to put it-his 'ninja hacker thing.'

Wally himself just groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. "What time is it?" he muttered crossly.

"Eight-fifteen," the youngest replied casually. "We have roughly forty-five minutes before they begin considering whether or not to wake us up for breakfast. Considering the fact that they believe Wally is severely hypoglycemic-stoke of genius there by the way, Roy- Dr. Banner will most likely come to the conclusion that it is best to get us up in order to assure that Wally's blood glucose remains stable, and the others will agree."

"Food?" Wally immediately sat up, looking around almost frantically.

Dick shook his head with a sigh. "Not yet, Kid Stomach. You consumed roughly 390 calories about four and a half hours ago; maybe more, I've never seen that brand of orange juice before so I don't know exactly how many calories it contained. Along with the stew, which from what I could tell contained beef, potato, and carrot in a thick beef broth, should be plenty to keep you running, figuratively, for another three hours, or literally for about twenty minutes."

"Wait, we only slept for four and a half hours?" Roy groaned.

"Of course," Dick deadpanned.

Roy sighed in annoyance. "Stupid bats."

Wally sat up, his brain finally catching up with his friends' conversation. "Hey, Dick? Aren't we in the … what are they called again?"  
"The Avengers."

"Yeah, aren't they pretty much this universe's version of the Justice League?"

"As far as I can tell."

"And this is their headquarters?"

"That's what the Captain said."

"Then won't they have cameras in their spare rooms?"

"Of course they do. Stark's AI, JARVIS, watches and knows everything that goes on here. I hacked it while you guys were sleeping. When anyone looks at the video feed from this room, they'll just see a loop of us sleeping. Also, if asked, the AI will tell them the same thing."

Roy shook his head in a mixture of amusement and admiration. "Why do we even ask, Wall-man? I mean, Dick's always at least four steps ahead of us."  
"Blame the Bat, bro," Dick advised with a shrug, not even looking away from his screen. "Blame the Bat."

Wally sighed as he resigned himself to staying awake for the foreseeable future. "Well, if they're like the Justice League, how long do you think it will take them to figure out we're from another universe?"

"They figured it out at three twenty-two this morning," Dick replied promptly. "Stark set his AI to scan us for a certain kind of residual background radiation that they referred to as 'Tesseract' while Dr. Banner was examining us. It took that amount of time for the scan to be completed."

As Dick began rattling off the details about their hosts, the two older boys simply relaxed, used to the astonishing amount of information that their youngest always seemed to have on hand. Forty-five minutes later, Dick tuned off his computer screen. "Agent Barton is on his way to get us up. I'd suggest being asleep." He promptly laid down, curled up under the blanket, and as far as anyone would ever be able to tell, immediately fell into a deep sleep. Wally followed his example, but Roy opted to continue his watchful big brother routine and simply lay down with his eyes open.

A minute later, the blond man knocked softly on their door before poking his head in. He smiled softly at the boys as he entered completely. "Good morning," he greeted them. Roy remembered that Dick had said he was a super spy whose archery abilities could rival Green Arrow. He could tell from his expression that he knew Wally wasn't asleep, but that he didn't think much into it. He could also tell that, as usual, Dick had him completely fooled.

"Time to get up, kiddo." Barton sounded perfectly upbeat as he pulled the covers off of the boys. Wally sighed and sat up, but Dick just groaned and turned over. Barton chuckled and picked the

little boy up, smiling softly as he cuddled sleepily into his shoulder. "Sorry guys, but Bruce said it could be dangerous for Wally here to miss a meal. Plus, it sounds like none of you have had a decent meal in a good while. So, how does French toast and bacon sound?"

Wally immediately jumped to his feet. "Great! What are we waiting for?"

Barton laughed and turned to lead them to the kitchen. As he did, Dick met their eyes over the spy's shoulder, and confirmed what they were all thinking.

_We'll just have to play this by ear._

_AYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJAYJA_

Steve glanced up from his cooking as Clint came into the kitchen with the boys. They were ruffled looking and still in pajamas, reminding Steve of just how late it had been when they had finally gotten them to bed. Clint was carrying Dick, who was still fast asleep on his shoulder.

Pepper nearly cooed at the sight, despite her worry about how in the world they were supposed to break the news that they were in the wrong universe and that they had absolutely no idea how to get them home.

"Looks like someone wasn't quite ready to get up yet," Pepper chucked, taking the child from Clint's arms and cuddling him close. Dick opened his eyes for a moment, looking faintly startled, before accepting his new position and relaxing.

Pepper sat down and set the now awake boy in a chair next to her. Wally and Roy sat down as well and Bruce set plates of food in front of them.

After they finished eating, they headed back to their room to get dressed. They came back dressed in t-shirts, jeans and sneakers that Clint had gotten them.

Steve smiled at them before sighing and deciding to get to the point. "Roy, Dick, Wally, we need to talk to you." Roy and Wally gave him what could only be described as a cautious look as they sat down on the couch, but Dick seemed … oddly intense. There was no emotion on his little face as he watched Steve's expression closely. The super soldier couldn't help but be slightly unnerved.

He shook his head briskly. _Snap out of it, Rogers. He's __just __a little boy._

Said little boy now had a slight smirk on his face, as if he could tell what Steve was thinking and was amused by it. Before Steve could begin his explanation, Tony burst into the room.

"Cap, have you told them yet? I need to ask them some questions before I can get started on a way to send them home."

Tony's teammates groaned in irritation as Steve glared at him.

"Steve was about to explain things gently to them," Bruce sighed at his friend. "They're little kids, Tony. They're going to need a lot of help to … adjust to the situation."

"You mean you wanted to tell us slowly in order to allow us the proper time to acclimate to the fact that we have been spontaneously transported to a different universe?"

All of the Avengers turned to stare at Dick, who smiled back at them pleasantly. "What? That was the only information you had that should have-to the best of your existing knowledge-shocked us to the point of causing somewhat avoidable afflictions including though not limited to: anger, denial, catatonia, and or complete despair. You had no way of knowing that we had figured out our location fairly quickly."

Tony bounced back first. "How did you figure all of that out?"

The boy smiled at the inventor. "It wasn't particularly difficult. One minute we were in the Watchtower waiting for our dads to finish a meeting, the next we were surrounded by blue light and then were standing in front of a bunch of mad scientists congratulating themselves on a successful trial run on inter-universal travel."

"How did you know that we knew?" Bruce asked, his brow furrowing slightly as if considering his own question.

Dick's smile widened. "Oh, I we knew there was a possibility that you would figure it out, considering who you are. So, after you put us in that room to sleep, I hacked your AI's systems to see what information you'd collected on us."

The momentary silence was broken by Tony's indignant yelp.

_"WHAT?!"_

**What did you think? The Avengers now know that these boys are no ordinary children. I made Dick the main speaker here because he is the detective/hacker. He's the one who knows the most about what's going on. So, next the Avengers are going to find out more about the boys' back stories. I love back stories, especially shockingly sad ones like Robin's. Anyway, read and review if you please.**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N **Hey, everyone. Sorry for the short chapter, but I had a killer History project due this week, so that took up a good part of my time. A lot of you were worried about random heart bearing on the part of our little heroes. I hope that I have successfully avoided that, I agree that it would have been WAY OOC. Don't worry y'all, I have plans for all that, no need to fret. **

**And**_** nobody really**_**, I assure you that there will be no need to sic the Bathound on me.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Again. And I never will.**

"I hacked your system," Dick replied patiently, as if Tony were the child.

"I thought nobody could hack JARVIS?" Steve asked, a bit shell shocked by the sudden change in absolutely everything he had thought was true about the current situation.

"Nobody has ever been able to before," Bruce replied, taking over for his still speechless friend.

"Clearly no-one has ever tried very hard," Dick broke in. "I mean, it only took me three and a half minutes to break through your fire wall. Your encryption program was fairly impressive, but it still only took five minutes total to get through it completely."

Tony shook his head in a mixture of outrage and grudging respect. "A _lot _of people have tried to break through my systems. I mean, SHIELD has been trying for ages!"

"Oh, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division," Dick replied. "I suppose it would make sense for them to want to keep an eye on your activities, Mr. Stark. _Madness in great ones must not unwatched go._"

By now the majority of the Avengers were trying to decide between amusement and alarm. Clint chose confusion. "Uh, did that five-year-old just quote_ Macbeth_?"

Dick gave him a look. "It's _Hamlet, _and I'm eight."

"Okay, clearly we have been working under some misconceptions here," Steve broke in. He was still looking at Dick like he thought he might be a robot in disguise or something else that they were somewhat familiar with. He couldn't quite wrap his head around an eight-year-old child being capable of this conversation.

Roy started laughing. "Yeah, I guess. Don't worry, Captain," he patted Steve's hand sympathetically, "Dick has that effect on everyone. Even people in our universe who know him sometimes get blindsided with just how good he is." Dick smiled at the compliment.

Pepper shook her head, a little confused but handling it better than the superheroes were. Looking the kids over curiously, she noticed that Wally was eating a granola bar as he watched his friends talk to the Avengers. She frowned in confusion. _Now where did he get that__?_

"But how did you hack my systems?" Tony demanded. "You don't have a computer and there sure as he- heck wasn't one in that guest room."

"Who says I don't have a computer?" Dick responded mildly. He held up his left hand for Tony to see. Around his wrist he wore a simple children's digital watch. Seeing the man's confusion, he smirked and pressed the pad of his right ring finger to the face of the watch and pressed a button on the side. As he drew his finger away, a holographic screen was drawn out and hovered over the boy's wrist.

Tony's jaw dropped. "You- where did you …"

"What's the problem, Tony?" Steve asked. "It just looks like your systems for JARVIS."

"That's the point," Tony shot back. "Those _are_ my systems. I haven't marketed them at all. They're sole property of Stark Industries."

"Well," Dick replied with a shrug, "in our world they're the property of Wayne Enterprises. My daddy's company." He slapped his hand over the screen and it turned off, leaving the illusion of an unremarkable wrist watch.

"So, you've been wearing that the whole time?" Bruce could barely hide his amusement as he patted Tony's shoulder consolingly. He was enjoying the show immensely as the strange little boy systematically destroyed every idea the team had about how things worked. Apparently sensing his approval, Dick sent him a quick grin, showing a gap were he was missing a tooth.

_Wow this kid is young, _Bruce thought in wonder. _How the heck is he this smart? _

"Yep," Wally broke in cheerfully, taking a bite out of a banana. Bruce frowned. _Wait, where did he get that?_ "Dickie-bird never leaves home unprepared. Bats makes sure of that!"

Bruce frowned again, blinking at the excitable little red-head. "Bats?"

Wally nodded happily. "Bruce Wayne, Dick's dad. He owns one of the biggest corporations in our world, based in Gotham City."

"Gotham City?" Steve questioned. "That sounds kind of … depressing."

"Oh, it's one of the worst cities in America," Roy agreed. "It's full of criminals and the police force is almost completely corrupt. The perfect place for the Batman."

"Hey," Dick defended his home, "the police force has been improving a lot ever since Jim Gordon became commissioner. He's about as honest as they come!"

Wally smirked and nudged his shoulder. "You're only saying that because you have a crush on his daughter."

Dick didn't rise to the bait. "Babs is my best friend. She's the only one who doesn't hate me for either being rich or being a charity case."

"Excuse me young ones," Thor interrupted, "but who is this Man of Bat that you have spoken of?"

Wally looked up at him with wide eyes. "Bats is the scariest hero in the-well our-world! He doesn't have any powers, but he can still beat anyone! And he has this thing called the Bat Glare, it's so terrifying that it makes hardened criminals pee their pants!"

"Wait, didn't you call Dick's dad Bats?" Steve asked.

"Yep," Wally replied, biting into an apple. The waste basket beside him was filled with wrappers and a banana peel. _Where is this boy getting these?_ Steve wondered.

"Batman is Dick's dad." Wally swung his feet cheerfully as he finished his apple and dropped the core into the waste basket.

"Which he will kill you for telling if he ever finds out," Roy pointed out mildly.

"Not literally," Dick assured those who were not familiar with the way their extended family worked. "But seriously, Kid Mouth, why are you spilling my family's deepest secrets?"

Wally shrugged. "We're in a different universe, Robbie. None of us even exist here. Why does it matter?"

Roy nodded. "He has a point. It doesn't really matter here. It's not like they can do anything anyway. They're heroes too."

Dick sighed, shaking his head.

"If you tell us exactly what you were doing before you ended up in this universe," Bruce interjected calmly, "it might help us in getting you home."

Dick nodded, squaring his shoulders. The effect should have been slightly ridiculous on such a small boy, but somehow it came off as a bit commanding. "We were at the Watchtower, waiting for our dads to finish a meeting."

"The Watchtower?" Tony questioned. "Isn't that a religious magazine?"

He shrugged at the boys' confused expressions. "I guess not for you."

"Anyway," Dick continued, "in our universe, there is a team similar to you Avengers. They're called the Justice League, or simply the League. All of our fathers are members. My dad, Batman, and Wally's dad, Flash, were founders. Roy's dad, Green Arrow, was invited to join a few years ago. They were having a meeting, and we were in the living room playing video games."

"So you 'Justice League' has a Bring Your Kid to Work Day?" Clint quipped.

Roy shook his head. "Both my parents are members of the League. My mom-really just my dad's girlfriend, but she's basically my mom-goes by the name Black Canary. She was on a mission that day."

Wally agreed. "My mom was at work. She's not a hero, but she has to travel sometimes. And Dick doesn't have a mom. Besides, that's the only time we really get to see each other."

Steve nodded, getting more confident now that he was on familiar territory. "And where was this Watchtower?"

"In space," Roy replied.

"Of course it is." Steve shook his head. He turned to Pepper. "Pepper, do have work to get done right now?"

Pepper laughed softly. "I _always _have work to get done, Steve. But I can put it off for a few hours to look after the kids while you guys do some work."

"So you keep things going for Mr. Stark, right Miss Potts?" Dick asked politely as the boy stood up. "The entire company and tower would collapse without you."

The woman smiled at him. "You can call me Pepper, Dick. And yes, I do pretty much keep everything going around here."

Dick nodded. "You sound like Alfred. Everyone knows that the super hero world as we know it would collapse without him."

"So this Alfred is important?" she asked, leading the boys back to the elevator.

All three boys answered him at the same time as the doors began to close. "Alfred knows all."

Once they were gone, Natasha turned to Steve. "So what are we going to do with them?"

Steve sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We'll keep them safe while we work on a way to send them home. They're just kids, no matter how smart Dick is. It sounds like they may have been targeted simply because of being the children of their world's superheroes. If that's true, I'm certain that we're not the only ones working on getting them back to their proper place."

A/N **So, what do you think. Good enough. Too spilly? Not enough? I personally loved the fact that Wally was sneak-speeding to get food and none of the Avengers though to watch him. That's just what he would do, take advantage of the fact that Dick had center stage. For anyone who didn't get the reference, the Watchtower is the name of a magazine published by the Jehovah's Witness Church. I just thought that was a funny fact. So the Avengers just think that the kids are only the sons of super heroes, even if Dick is super smart. Should be fun.**

**Read and Review if you please.**


	5. Chapter 5

A/N **Hello. I've really got nothing to say at this point. Enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own. **

That afternoon found Clint and Steve watching Dick and Wally while Bruce and Tony took Roy down to the lab. Tony claimed that he needed the teen to "help detect deviations in the two realities that may effect the process of returning them to their proper plane of existence."

Dick had nodded and replied in similar techno-babble for a minute before smiling at his nervous-looking friend and assuring him that he only wanted him to answer questions about how their world worked, and as the oldest, Roy was bound to know more.

Steve hadn't liked the edge of sarcasm the little boy's words were laced with, or the almost self-deprecating smirk on his face as he said that. The Captain shuddered, remembering a tiny body covered with the remnants of countless obviously painful wounds.

"What about this one?" Clint asked, pulling out yet another movie.

Steve glanced at the cover and rolled his eyes. "Really, Clint? _The Grudge_? They're little kids."

"Besides, we've seen it before," Wally added cheerfully, munching a bowl of pop corn. Steve wasn't sure how it was possible, but the ten-year-old seemed like he could potentially out-eat Thor.

"Why in the world did you do that?" Steve asked, faintly disgusted. _And why in the world would your parents let you? _That movie had made _him _feel slightly ill.

Wally shrugged. "Roy was mad at us for a prank we pulled, so he decided to scare us with it during a sleep over. It kind of backfired, though."

"You were scared, Walls," Dick scoffed.

"Not badly," the older boy defended himself with a shrug. "And it helped that you spent the whole time making fun of it. I don't think Roy planned on you laughing maniacally every time the ghost killed somebody."

Dick simply smirked at Steve, eerily seeming to have read his thoughts yet again. "It was funny." He turned back to watch Clint dig through the pile of DVDs.

"Hey," Clint called, glancing back, "how about a Disney movie? That's kid friendly!"

"Which one?" Wally asked, glancing over at the archer.

Clint held out the first case he found. "How 'bout _The_ _Lion King?"_

Dick looked at it curiously. "I haven't seen that one."

Clint and Wally looked at the small boy with identical expressions of horror, which made Steve and Dick laugh. "We are watching this." Clint declared solemnly, putting the disk into the player.

The beginning of the movie went by pleasantly; both boys seeming mesmerized by the brightly colored animation and cheerful songs. Steve also found himself getting lost in the kids' movie, much to Clint's amusement. When Mufasa was trying to save Simba from the stampede, he glanced at the others.

Dick was staring intensely at the television, as if willing the older lion to get to his cub. Steve remembered that the youngest had never seen the movie before. One glance at Wally, though, told him the characters' fate. The boy looked slightly sad and resigned, waiting for the inevitable. And since Simba was the main character, it must be the father that dies.

Sure enough, the jealous brother killed the rightful king, throwing him off of the cliff into the stampede below. Steve was mentally comparing the relationship between Scar and Mufasa to that of Loki and Thor when he heard a pained whimper from beside him. He looked over and was alarmed to see Dick curled into the arm of the couch his eyes wide with horror and pain. As he watched, the little boy let out a choked sob, his entire frame shaking and his face nearly white.

"Dick?" he asked in concern. The little boy didn't answer, his breath becoming ragged and labored, little whimpering whines escaping his mouth.

"Dick?" Wally looked over at his friend in concern, Clint's eyes widening worriedly.

The little boy seemed to attempt to answer him, but it came out in another language. Steve knew enough that he could tell he was speaking Romani, but had no idea what Dick could be saying. But his voice was getting gradually louder and more panicked.

Wally looked worried. "Dick? Come on, snap out of it." He lightly shook the boy's shoulder.

"What's going on?" Clint asked in concern.

"I don't know!" The red-head shook his head helplessly. "He usually only gets like this when he has nightmares."

"What do you do then?" Steve asked, wanting to comfort the small boy but having no idea how.

Wally shook his head. "His dad is the only one who can calm him down quickly. But Roy's handled it a few times while we were being held in the lab."

"JARVIS!" Steve called to the AI. "Call the lab and get Roy up here as fast as you can."

_"__Yes, Captain Rogers." _The cool British voice seemed to calm Dick for a split second before he began crying again.

The elevator doors opened and Roy ran out, followed closely by Bruce and Tony. As the teen ran to his friend's side, the rest of the team, including Pepper, entered the room, having heard the boy's cries that had evolved into just short of full blown screams.

Roy shook Dick's shoulder. "Dickie? Come on, you need to speak English, or I can't understand you."

When his words had no effect, he turned to Wally, his eyes wide with concern. "What happened?"

Wally shook his head. "I don't know. We were just watching a movie, and he started crying." He gestured helplessly toward the television.

Roy glanced at the paused screen and did a double take. "_The Lion King?" _He turned to glare at Wally. "You let him watch the freakin' _Lion King?!"_

Wally looked mystified, as were the adults watching. "What's wrong with that?"

Roy grabbed his shoulders. It wasn't a rough gesture, but it wasn't the most gentle one either. "Think about _how_ Mufasa _dies_."

That still made no sense to Steve, but Wally's eyes widened in horror. "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh'," Roy growled turning back to Dick. He said a few words that sounded like the same language as Dick was speaking, but it still wasn't working.

Looking at the boy's trembling figure, Steve realized something terrible. He swallowed, looking at Roy in trepidation. "He's having a flashback, isn't he?"

The rest of the team looked at him disbelievingly, but Roy nodded sadly. "Yeah."

The adults' expressions turned horrified. They all had some problems with PTSD from their lives, but to see a little kid having to go through that …

"What-" Bruce cleared his throat. "What happened to him?"

Roy looked at him sadly, still trying to calm his hysterical friend, while Wally stared guiltily at the floor. "We said we were all adopted," he paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "Dick has the hardest story. His entire family was murdered in front of him." He looked sadly at Dick, and Pepper gasped in horror. "That was six months ago."

Roy took a deep breath and got back to the problem at hand. "This is the worst flashback I've seen him have. Usually when it gets bad enough that he forgets English, his dad handles it. Bats learned Romani just for that reason. But I only know 'friend', 'safe', 'nightmare', and 'little bird'."

He shook his head in frustration, and looked up at the Avengers. "I don't suppose any of you speak Romani?" They shook their heads helplessly. "Didn't expect so." He looked up suddenly. "What about Romanian or Russian? He's known both of those languages almost as long. Do any of you speak that?"

They all looked at Natasha, who nodded a little reluctantly and made her way to Dick's side. She knelt down in front of the boy and said something gently in Russian. To everyone's relief, Dick looked up at her and replied, also in Russian. She continued to talk to him and he seemed to repeat the same few sentences over and over again.

After a few minutes of conversation with the former Russian spy, the little Gypsy boy seemed to calm down. He stopped crying and slumped down against the arm of the couch, looking exhausted.

Natasha stepped back and Roy picked Dick up, rubbing his back softly. "We'd better take him to lay down. JARVIS will tell us when it's time for dinner, right?" At Tony's affirmative nod, the three boys headed to the elevator and went back to the guest room.

There was complete silence for about a minute after their departure, before Tony spoke up.

"What was he saying to you?" he asked Natasha, his usual thirst for knowledge coming through, thought still sounding considerably subdued.

Natasha looked up at her teammates, and only Clint could see the strain in her expression. "He kept saying, 'They fell, they fell.'"

**I hope this was sufficiently heartbreaking. Sorry for the slightly late update, I had an English final today and it left me a little burned out. Thanks so much to everyone who reviews. I love reading it. Give me your thoughts! Read and Review! **


	6. Chapter 6

A/N **I know this is sort of pointless, but it leads up to some important things. I hope you guys enjoy some comedy. Thanks for all your reviews. They make me happy.**

**Disclaimer: Do I really need to say it? I DO NOT OWN!**

No-one mentioned Dick's breakdown during dinner. Even Tony understood about flashbacks and wouldn't dream of bringing it up to the eight-year-old. The boy himself was silent, sitting in Roy's lap throughout the meal and refusing to meet anyone's eyes.

After the kids had gone to bed, Tony went back to his lab to work, Thor had gone to Asgard to ask Heimdall if he had any information on how to travel universes, and the others discussed the plans for the following day.

"We can't just keep them inside all the time," Clint declared. "They're little kids, they need to have something to do before they go crazy."

Steve agreed. "It's not fair to expect them to stay on their best behavior if they're constantly being kept quiet. Especially Wally, did you see how much he was bouncing in place today?"

Bruce nodded thoughtfully. "It's probably a good idea to keep them active. It should keep their spirits up to a degree to do something familiar, and I think they could all use some comfort, especially Dick."

Those with enhanced hearing winced as they heard an anguished scream coming from the kids' room.

_"Sirs," _JARVIS interjected. "_Young Mr. Wayne seems to be screaming in his sleep."_

"Does he seem like he needs one of us?" Steve asked, feeling incredibly guilty for his part in the boy's pain. While Clint hid it better, he was feeling the same way. They both really wished they had picked a different movie.

_"That is not necessary as this time," _the electronic voice replied. _"Young Mr. Queen seems to have the situation well in hand. When I inquired of him he replied simply it was __to __nowhere near the severity of this afternoon and that he knows how to handle nightmares in the boy."_

They nodded, and sure enough, the screaming broke off a few minutes later. The Avengers sighed in relief and looked at each other.

However, JARVIS' voice broke in before anyone could speak. _"Sirs, Mr. Queen has asked me to inform you that the episodes __are__ likely to repeat several times over the course of the night, and not to be unduly alarmed at the screams that result."_

Attempting to push the thoughts of guilt out of his mind, Steve quickly returned to their previous conversation. "I was thinking that we could take them to the park down off ninth. I run past it every morning, and it looks nice. Trees, basketball court, playground. I think they'd all have fun there for a few hours."

The others nodded. "Sounds good to me," Clint agreed. "But who's going to take them? We should probably have two people there to watch them. The last thing we need is an inter-dimensionally traveling kid accidentally wandering off and getting lost in New York City."

"I'll do it," Steve volunteered immediately. He thought it sounded rather fun, and he was more than happy to spend a few hours in one of the only quiet outdoor areas in the city. "Clint?" he asked, knowing the archer's talent with children and that he also felt guilty about inadvertently hurting Dick.

But Clint shook his head. "I would Cap, but Nat and I are heading out on a mission at 0600 tomorrow morning. We should be gone for about three days if all goes well."

Bruce sighed. "Then I guess I'll go with you. No way we can trust Tony with kids." It wasn't that he didn't want to help with the kids, he just still felt nervous in open spaces and crowds.

Steve, knowing this, smiled at the doctor and patted his shoulder. "That settles it, then. We'll head out after breakfast, let's say nine o'clock? Then we can stop somewhere for lunch on our way back."

The next morning found Bruce carrying a still visibly sleepy Dick towards the park. The poor little boy seemed exhausted, and Bruce winced at the memory of last night. Roy's prediction had unfortunately come true, and Bruce had woken to the eight-year-old's screams three more times over the course of the night. The odd thing was, each time, Dick had yelled in a different language.

Bruce hadn't been close enough to hear words the first time with the rest of the team, but the second time had been in a language that Bruce hadn't recognized, but still sounded different from what he had spoken during the movie, which Roy had said was his native language.

The third time, Bruce had recognized it as Russian, but still hadn't understood the words. The forth had been in Portuguese, a language Bruce was fluent in. The words themselves hadn't made much sense, but they were filled with more pain and anguish than any child should have experience with, punctuated with heart-wrenching screams. The most repeated words were 'mami, tati, daddy, no, please, help, Zucco, and Joker.'

One of his nightmares had seemed to include this 'Joker' torturing him with a knife. Bruce didn't know who Joker was, but he had the feeling that he had something to do with the letter J carved into Dick's chest.

The moment Bruce had made that connection, it had been all he could do to keep from turning into the Other Guy and attempting to take out his anger at someone in another universe who he had no way of getting to.

When they reached the park, Steve put a hand on Roy's shoulder. "What do you say we go play some basketball?" he asked, spinning the ball on his finger.

Roy grinned. "Sounds good." He turned to the younger two. "You guys going to stay on the playground?"

They nodded. Bruce smiled at Roy. "I'll keep an eye on them. They'll be okay."

"I know," Roy agreed easily, surprising both of the adults slightly. He always seemed over-protective of the younger boys.

Roy looked at Wally sternly. "You be good for Dr. Banner, got it Wally? And listen to Dick."

He turned to the youngest. "You're in charge, Birdie. Keep an eye on Kid Mouth, make sure he doesn't do anything _too _stupid."

"Hey!" Wally protested indignantly.

Dick nodded solemnly from his position in Bruce's arms. "You can count on me, Arrow Breath."

Roy grinned and took off for the basketball court with Steve laughing close behind him. Bruce chuckled as well as he carried Dick over to the playground, Wally close behind, still grumbling. When he got to the benches beside the jungle gym, he set Dick down and looked at both boys.

"Okay, guys. Here are the rules. You can play over in this area. I have some bottles of water if you get thirsty. If you decide you want to go anywhere out of my line of sight, you need to come and let me know first. Okay?" He looked down at the boys. Dick nodded obediently, but Wally wasn't looking at Bruce. "Wally?" he prompted.

Wally looked startled. "What?"

Bruce sighed. "You weren't listening at all, were you?"

"You can't take me out where there are interesting things happening and expect me to pay attention," Wally defended himself.

Dick shook his head with a sigh. "It's not his fault you have the attention span of a toddler," he told Wally.

Wally looked offended. "I do not have a short attention- SQUIRREL!" The little red-head interrupted himself and took off after a squirrel on the other side of the bench. He was so intent on his prize that when the squirrel climbed up a nearby tree, he ran straight into the tree. He fell backward and looked around like he couldn't quite figure out what had just happened.

Bruce looked down at Dick, who shook his head and brought his hand up to slap into his forehead. He gave Bruce a look that clearly said, 'Do you _see_ what I have to deal with?'

It looked so much like the expression he saw on Pepper's face on nearly a daily basis that Bruce had to laugh. "I see why he left you in charge."

A/N **Here you go. I hope you enjoy this. I know it doesn't have muck in the way of plot, but it's important for the set up for the next bit. **

**Reviews are always appreciated. **


	7. Chapter 7

A/N **Hello! Here I am with the next chapter. I hope it meets your hopes and expectations.**

**Disclaimer: I no own. **

Bruce looked up from his book as Steve and Roy came up behind him. After the first half hour or so at the park, Dick had proved more than capable of keeping Wally out of trouble, and so Bruce had settled onto a nearby bench and immersed himself in a book.

The way the little red-head had become perfectly behaved after a whispered conversation with the even smaller ebony made Bruce suspect that either bribery or a threat had been involved, but couldn't quite bring himself to care. After the squirrel incident, he believed any way of keeping Wally from maiming himself couldn't possibly be a bad thing.

"How did it go?" Bruce asked, regarding the two curiously. They had been in the park for a few hours. It was now past lunch time, and they were the only ones remaining.

Steve grinned. "We had some good games. Roy here has amazing aim."

Roy grinned, and Bruce noticed with surprise that the thirteen-year-old didn't look exhausted like one would expect from someone who had just spent the last three and a half hours playing basketball with a super soldier. In fact, the boy seemed just as energetic as he had been that morning.

"And how did your lot do?" Steve asked good naturedly.

Bruce smiled. "Wally had a little incident involving a squirrel, a tree, and a short attention span, but Dick mostly kept him in check."

Roy nodded. "Yeah, Kid Mouth tends to act first and think never. Luckily, Birdie doesn't take a step before measuring the pros and cons and knowing exactly what is going to happen."

"Hey, Arrow Breath!" Wally called cheerfully as he ran up to them, dragging Dick behind him. "You're back! Now follow through, Robbie!" he continued, turning back to Dick, who had a long suffering look on his face.

"Follow through with what?" Bruce asked, wondering if Dick had promised Wally ice cream or something in return for good behavior. At the same time, Steve was wondering about all of the nick names the children seemed to have for each other.

Wally looked up at Bruce. "Dick promised that if I behaved, and there weren't other people around when Roy and Cap got back, he'd do a show for us before we left!"

"Really?" Roy looked excited as well. He looked down at Dick, who had a strange mixture of excitement and resignation in his eyes. "You're gonna do a show, Birdie?"

Dick nodded. "Wally controlled himself and we're the only ones here, so yeah. I'll do a show."

Wally let out a whoop and climbed onto the bench beside Bruce. Dick went to stand behind Steve and Roy, and started stretching.

Steve looked at the boys in confusion. "Show?" he asked.

Roy nodded, looking almost as excited as Wally. "Dick's an acrobat. He can do amazing stunts, and this playground has enough equipment for him to put on a small show."

Steve and Bruce smiled in understanding. _So the boy likes gymnastics, _Steve thought with amusement. _His __friends like watching his little tricks__._

All of his expectations were, once again, shattered as the little boy ran at the bench, vaulted over it, did a back flip, and ended up hanging by his hands from the tallest chin-up bar, approximately three times his height. Bruce and Steve could only stare in shock as Roy and Wally clapped encouragingly at their friend.

"Thatcertainly was impressive," Bruce commented.

Roy scoffed. "_That_ wasn't the show. That was just him getting in position. Now you'll get to see Birdie fly."

As if taking those words as a cue, Dick suddenly began swinging his body back and forth, using the momentum to launch himself upward, doing a flip and landing, perfectly balanced, on his feet on top of the bar. He did a series of cart wheels-on the bars- down to the lowest chin-up bar. Once he was at the end, he stopped, facing the uneven surfaces of the other three bars.

Without hesitation, Dick ran, still perfectly balanced, over the bars. When he reached the end, he jumped, doing three complete flips and landing on his hands on the top bar of the swing set. He pulled one hand up and away, keeping his entire weight balanced on just one arm.

After a few moments, he put his hand back down and walked on his hands to the end of the swing set away from his observers. Once reaching his destination, he once again ran along the bar and launched himself off.

He did four complete flips before landing on his feet in front of the two shocked Avengers and two grinning children. He did an elegant bow before cartwheeling over to stand beside Roy.

Apparently, the show was over, as Wally and Roy immediately burst into enthusiastic applause. Bruce glanced over at Steve and saw his own shock reflected in the super soldier's eyes.

"Told you his shows were amazing," Roy said, glancing over at Steve, the grin still present on his face.

"How could you let him do that?" Steve demanded. "He could have killed himself!"

Dick scoffed. "Please. I'm a professional."

Bruce looked at him. He was just as confused as his teammate, but was doing a much better job at staying hiding it. "You're eight," he pointed out.

Dick shrugged. "I've been a professional since I was three. Of course, for the trapeze work, I had to be seven before I was allowed to perform without a net."

Bruce shook his head, suddenly making sense of the boy's words last night, _they fell._

Steve was having the same thoughts, though his were accompanied with the image of Mufasa falling into the stampede, and Dick's flashback immediately following.

"Well," Bruce sighed, "we'd better head back. I'm sure Tony will have pizza or something there when we get back to the tower."

Wally nodded happily. "Great, I'm starving!"

Bruce noticed Roy and Dick eying Wally nervously and could have kicked himself when he realized that it was past time for lunch, and Wally had been extremely active for the past few hours. The kid was in danger of another blood sugar crash if he didn't eat soon.

"Here Wally," Bruce handed the boy a few granola bars, which were promptly devoured with gusto. After the wrappers were safely shoved into a nearby trash can, Bruce nodded to Steve. "Steve, would you carry him?"

The Captain nodded and scooped the little red-head up into his arms, ignoring his indignant protests. "Hey, I'm TEN! I can walk on my own!"

"Yeah," Dick agreed, "and you can collapse on your own too. Doesn't mean you should."

Wally stuck his tongue out at Dick, who ignored him as he peacefully allowed Bruce to pick him up again.

As they arrived at Avengers' Tower, it was immediately obvious that something was wrong. JARVIS didn't greet them as they entered the elevator and pressed for the common floor. Steve and Bruce shared a look as Steve set Wally down and Bruce tightened his hold on Dick.

The boys, sensing something bad was about to happen, stayed silent. Roy pulled Wally toward him and behind Steve as Dick pressed closer to Bruce, giving the impression of a scared child even as he remained vigilant and ready to act.

As the doors slid open, they confronted with a battlefield.

A/N **So, here you go. Originally, this was going to be the start of the action, but I had several requests for Dick's acrobatic skills to come out at the park, so I wrote this. The big reveal will have to wait until next week. Honestly, I'm a bit relieved, it will give me more time to plan it out.**

**Reviews make me happy.**


	8. Chapter 8

A/N **I'm Ba-ack! I know a few of you thought I was evil for leaving that cliff hanger. ****I'm sorry, but that was really the best place to stop. So, without further babbling, I present …**

**This.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I wish I did. But I don't.**

Steve took in his surroundings quickly. There were dozens of enemies in the tower, wearing what looked oddly like bee keeper outfits and wielding high tech weapons.

"A.I.M." Natasha explained, falling back to stand beside Steve, guns out and cocked. "Clint and I were sent to investigate their plans, which, as you can see, were to attack Avengers Tower."

"Oops," Tony offered up as he paused in front of them briefly before throwing Steve's shield at him and launching himself at another opponent.

Steve nodded thankfully as he fastened his shield to his arm. "Bruce, keep the kids safe." Without looking back, he joined his teammates in the fight.

Bruce, knowing better than to put himself into an enclosed space with a battle going on, pulled Wally and Roy to his side and tightened his hold on Dick. As he hurried to a corner, he passed a still form on the ground. With a jolt of fear, he recognized it as Clint.

Before Bruce could do anything, Roy knelt down and pressed two fingers into the archer's neck. The teen looked up at Bruce reassuringly. "He's okay, just unconscious. Wally, give me a hand."

The two boys each grabbed one of Clint's arms and dragged him along as gently as possible. When they reached a spot at the edge of the fighting, Bruce took a deep breath and prayed that wanting to avoid the Hulk would keep the A.I.M. grunts from attacking him, the children, and his injured teammate.

Before the thought had even fully formed in his mind, one of the enemies turned toward them, weapon ready. Bruce felt his pulse rise as he glanced at his insensate friend. If they managed to knock him out before he changed, he would have no way to protect Clint and the children.

As he began to set Dick down, hating himself for leaving the little boy on his own, but resigning himself to the necessary evil, the last thing that he expected happened.

An arrow streaked past him, the blunt tip colliding with the grunt's head and knocking him unconscious. Bruce pulled Dick back firmly in his arms and turned to thank Clint, relieved that the man had woken up just in time. But what he saw was another shock.

Clint was still laying on the ground, out cold. And standing over him, Clint's slightly oversized bow still up and ready, was Roy.

As Bruce watched in disbelief, the teenager notched another arrow and let it fly, taking out a grunt on the other side of the room who had been about a second away from frying Steve. The super soldier was too busy to look up at who had saved him, obviously assuming it has been Hawkeye, as he called for the archer to take a position closer to the fray.

Roy obeyed without hesitation, and Bruce was too shocked to stop him as he ran past, Hawkeye's bow and quiver ready and taking out grunt after grunt with a skill up until then Bruce had only associated with the blond assassin.

Bruce's attention was grabbed by another grunt who stomped up to them, weapon up and ready to strike. Before Bruce could even think, the small boy in his arms twisted out of his hold, using his chest as a springboard. Dick flipped over the grunt's head with the same grace he had used to flip off the swing at the park, landing on his shoulders and dispatching him with a swift punch to the back of the skull.

The grunt fell, Dick standing-perfectly balanced as always-on the grunt's back. He offered up a grin to the stunned scientist before letting out an eerie cackle and … disappearing.

The only traces of the little boy in the battle were several grunts letting out cries of pain and falling unconscious for no apparent reason. Always followed by a haunting cackle.

Bruce looked down at Wally, who was leaning casually against the wall, eating a granola bar, with the box to one side of him and a pile of wrappers to the other.

The ten-year-old looked as though he'd been in this kind of situation on a regular basis as he calmly offered Bruce a granola bar, shrugging and eating it himself when the scientist just stared at him. Bruce dimly heard a startled "What in the … ?" from Steve and realized that his leader must have finally noticed who he was fighting beside.

Half an hour later, the grunts were all either unconscious or restrained. Steve looked down at Roy in shock. Natasha was equally confused, but was hiding it considerably better.

Roy stood in front of her and handed her Clint's bow and quiver. "I'm sure you can give this back to him when he wakes up. It's good quality. He must be talented."

Natasha took her partner's weapons calmly before hurrying to his side. Bruce got out of her way and headed over to Steve, Wally trailing behind cheerfully. "Nice shootin' Arrow Breath!" Wally called, fist bumping Roy.

Roy grinned. "Thanks. It took me a few shots to get used to the bow. It's a bit bigger than I'm used to, but luckily GA had me practice with his a few times in case I needed to use it."

Steve blinked uncertainly and Bruce looked around in concern. "Where's Dick?" he asked worriedly. The kid might have fought as well as Cap, but he was still an eight-year-old boy and Bruce was terrified that he had gotten hurt.

Roy shrugged and looked up at the ceiling. "Come on out, Birdie!" he called casually.

"I'm right here," Dick spoke up from beside Steve, startling both adults.

"Where did you-" Steve asked, but was cut off as Tony flew back into the room.

"Uh, guys," he began, pulling up his mask. "We've got a problem."

"Problem, Avengers?" a sudden voice mocked. "I'd say closer to a catastrophe."

A man walked in from the balcony in the opposite side of the room, twirling a vial almost absently in his fingers. Steve threw his shield at him, but it hit an invisible barrier with a sharp buzz.

The man tutted at them. "I wouldn't do that, Captain. This is a very volatile mixture. If it hits the ground, the resulting explosion will take out an entire city block. Unless, of course, you are on the other side of a force field."

The Avengers growled, staring the man down. He simply smiled, turning away and tossing the vial calmly over his shoulder as he tuned on a propulsion system and left through the window..

All three of the conscious Avengers dove forward to catch it, all knowing it would be too late, but having to try.

And they all froze in shock as they saw Wally standing there, holding the vial carefully in his hand. In a blink, he was standing beside Tony, offering it to him.

Tony looked at him in shock. "H-how did you-?"

Wally cleared his throat impatiently. "You can ask questions when we're _not_ all in danger of going boom."

Taking the hint, Tony gingerly took the vial from the young ginger. "Come on Bruce. We've got to analyze this after we get Legolas to the infirmary. Steve needs to call Fury to send pick up for these guys. _Then _we can find out some more about our young friends. And kids," he turned to the three boys, "you better believe we're going to get some answers."

A/N **There it is. They know. And they know Wally has powers. Review please.**


	9. Chapter 9

A/N **Hey! Sorry for the late update, but I hope the longer chapter makes up for that.**

**For your patients, ladies and gentlemen, Director Fury!**

**Disclaimer: Beyond the DVD, Avengers is not mine. Young Justice as well.**

"What are we going to do, Steve?" Bruce asked, rubbing his eyes tiredly beneath his glasses. He regarded his team leader from his position leaning against the far wall as the super soldier piled unconscious A.I.M. grunts near the door for the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to arrest. He had come to talk about what to do next concerning their situation after treating Clint and leaving him in the infirmary to wake up. Natasha was waiting to fill him in.

Steve shook his head as he absently laid the last grunt down out of the way. "I don't know, Bruce. We all know how pointless it is to try and hide things from Fury. He already knows that we found the boys in that lab and that we're keeping them with us while we search for a way to send them back. He watches the security footage whenever there's a breach. He'll already know."

Bruce nodded slowly. "We'll just have to play this by ear, Steve. If Fury decides that any of them are a threat, especially Wally, he'll have them locked up before we can blink. I won't let them end up locked away and tested again, Steve. I WON'T!" His eyes started taking on a green tint.

"Easy, Bruce," Steve soothed, putting a hand on his shoulder. Bruce closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened them again, they were back to normal.

"Sorry, Steve. I just can't- They're little kids and I won't let them go through more pain. Their lost and they -"

"They don't deserve to be treated like the enemy," Steve finished, understanding his friend's protectiveness. Bruce knew what it was like to have everyone around you assume that you were a threat just because you had an ability that could easily be used against them.

"How do you know they're not?" a new voice broke in. They turned to see Natasha walk into the room, Clint trailing behind. The blond archer had a slightly sheepish expression, and Steve guessed that Natasha had filled him in on what had happened; including the way he had been covered by a thirteen-year-old boy.

"Tasha, they're kids," Clint pointed out, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. He was the only one who could get away with that, and he knew it.

"You didn't see them fight, Clint," Natasha replied. "They're trained. Well trained. And Wally has powers. How do we know they weren't planted there as a trap?"

Bruce sighed as his teammate's paranoia came through. He knew it wasn't Natasha's fault, she had been trained that way, but they had to get her on their side. She could have the kids in Fury's clutches before ant of them could blink. It was a good thing that Clint seemed to agree with them.

"Natasha," Steve argued, "they've been here for three days and they haven't done anything. They may not have shown their abilities, but they didn't exactly hide it either. I mean, we knew that Dick could hack and was intelligent, and you didn't see him at the park. His acrobatic skills are amazing. Apparently, his birth parents were aerialists and he grew up doing trapeze acts. They mentioned that their parents were part of what was basically their universe's version of us. They're good."

"Yeah," Clint added. "Besides, we don't see every mutant kid as a threat, Tasha. He seems ot have a handle on his abilities."

Natasha sighed. "Fine, Steve. I won't insist that Fury take them, but you know he'll have watched the footage from the fight. He knows all about the kids."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." They looked up to see their group engineer exiting the elevator from his lab.

"What do you mean, Tony?" Steve asked a bit wearily, wondering what his teammate had done this time, and how much trouble it was going to cause.

Reading Steve's mind, Tony offered up a sly grin. "Oh, don't worry, Cap. _I_ didn't do anything. However, our pint-sized ninja hacker _did_."

Bruce sighed at Tony's description, but the corners of his mouth pulled up slightly. "What exactly did Dick do?"

Tony offered up another look of mixed grudging respect and annoyance. "Little terror hacked JARVIS's systems again. He doctored the security feeds to show _us _fighting all the grunts while they hid behind Bruce the whole time. Apparently, Clint was knocked out by a hidden enemy at the end of the fight, after he helped Steve take out the majority of the grunts while a rebooted JARVIS took more down with the weapons in the ceiling, as well as that last guy throwing the vial a little too far, far enough that I managed to catch it before it hit the ground."

Bruce shook his head in amusement at the situation as a whole. "That boy is too smart for his own good. He kind of reminds me of Tony."

Tony shook his head, not taking offense to that statement, but disagreeing with it. "Actually, I think Wally is more like me. I was talking to him when Pepper brought the boys down to keep them out of sight when Fury got here, and he has a real mind for chemicals. He actually figured out what that compound was when I let him look in my microscope. He saved our lives, by the way. If that vial had hit the ground, it would definitely have taken out the entire building, and probably everything else within a half-mile radius."

Bruce chuckled softly, remembering Wally's run-in with the squirrel and the tree. "Yes, I can see the resemblance."

"Honestly," Tony continued, unaware of the slight insult, "Dick reminds me of an odd combination of you and Natasha."

_"__Sir," _JARVIS broke in, luckily finished rebooting from the virus A.I.M. had infected him with, _"Director Fury is here."_

"Thanks, J," Tony said simply, knowing there was no point in either inviting or denying the super spy.

Sure enough, a moment later, Fury entered, with a crowd of agents behind him. No-one said anything as the agents quickly collected the unconscious grunts and left, leaving the team and director alone.

"Report," said Fury simply, taking a seat on the couch. The Avengers followed suite, and Steve, glad for Tony's warning, calmly told him exactly what had been shown on the security tapes.

Fury simply nodded. Once they were finished, he regarded them silently for a few moments. Finally, he looked at Tony. "Good work, Stark. Could have been a big mess if you hadn't caught that vial.

Tony glanced at him, a cocky smile crossing his face. Fury, clearly having no interest in hearing the inventor brag, quickly moved onto the next topic.

"So, I hear you have a few house guests." He regarded Steve thoughtfully.

The super soldier nodded. "The three children we rescued from the lab in New Jersey. The scientists kidnapped them from another universe. We decided to keep them here while Tony works on a way to send them home."

"How old are they?" Fury questioned.

"Thirteen, ten, and eight," Bruce replied.

Steve thought he saw a glimmer of sympathy in the man's eye, but he couldn't be certain.

"What's their status?" Fury questioned.

"They mentioned that they are adopted," Bruce replied in his 'doctor's' voice, deciding to stay as close o the truth as possible, "and that their adoptive father's, and in the oldest's case, his mother as well, are members of a team that is similar to the Avengers. All three show signs of past abuse, but it's by far worse in the youngest. He has knife, bullet, and burn scars on nearly his entire torso, as well as belt marks on his back. The other boys also have belt marks. They told us that those all happened before their adoptions, and I see no reason to disbelieve them. The youngest, however, is also suffering from PTSD after witnessing his parents' murders six months ago, after which he was brutalized by the foster care system before being rescued by his adoptive father."

By this time, they could all see Fury silently fuming. He didn't like the thought of children being hurt any more than they did. "Where are they?" he asked, his voice devoid of all emotion.

"Pepper's watching them," Steve informed them. "They were all pretty shaken up by the fight."

Fury nodded. "Bring them up here."

Steve sighed, but obediently called up to JARVIS. "JARVIS, could you asked Pepper to bring the boys up here?"

_"Certainly, Captain Rogers," _the AI replied.

A few moments later, the elevator beeped, and Pepper stepped out with the children. Wally was gripping the woman's hand tightly and looking nervously at the newcomer. Roy's shoulders were squared and he was looking at Fury almost defiantly. Dick had his arms wrapped around Pepper's neck, his face buried in her shoulder, refusing to look up.

For the first time, Steve was struck with the boys' acting skills. Especially Dick's. While Wally was probably nervous and Roy was definitely defiant, Steve highly doubted that Dick was scared and clingy.

Fury made his way over to them slowly in an attempt not to frighten them. He nodded politely to Pepper. "Miss Potts."

Pepper nodded back. "Director Fury."

"And what are your names?" he asked the boys.

"I'm Roy Queen," the oldest replied. "Those are Wally West," he jerked his thumb at Wally, "and Dick Wayne."

Fury nodded, clearly seeing what the boys were showing. They were simply little kids who were lost and scared.

And they weren't about to correct him.

A/N **I hope that lived up to your expectations. Bruce had such a long monologue because Fury would expect them to tell him everything, and they didn't want to make him suspicious. Read and review. **


	10. Chapter 10

A/N **Hey! I'm so sorry for the late chapter, but I was on a camping trip, so no internet or computer. I had to write this chapter quite quickly in order to get it done today, so I'm sorry if it's not my best.**

**Disclaimer: This is not mine. **

After Fury left, the Avengers regarded the children carefully as they sat on the couch. Wally and Roy were going over the battle, commenting on strategies and comparing A.I.M. to something called Luthor. How they knew so many details about A.I.M stumped Steve. He couldn't figure out when Dick had had time to debrief them. Or, for that matter, when he had managed to rewrite the security footage. Speaking of which …

"Where's Dick?" Steve asked, his voice tired and resigned in a way the others rarely heard except in relation to Tony Stark.

"I'm right here," the boy replied from behind him, making the super soldier jump.

Sure enough, Dick was walking past him, eating a peanut butter sandwich, and carrying about ten more in his other hand.

"Here, guys," he said, sitting down and handing one sandwich to Roy and the rest to Wally. Wally had all nine eaten by the time Roy had swallowed his first bite, and was eying the rest of Roy's thoughtfully.

"Don't event think about it, Kid Stomach." Roy didn't even look at the younger boy. "You want more, you make it yourself."

Wally turned to Dick. "Robbie," he wheedled.

Dick just shook his head at him. "Don't push your luck, KF. I'm not your personal chef."

Wally sighed and vanished. Since he was paying close attention, Steve could see a momentary streak of red hair as the boy ran off, reappearing a moment later with what looked like the rest of the loaf of bread and probably the peanut butter as well. It took the ten-year-old less that ten seconds to eat all of it.

"So, super speed?" Bruce questioned mildly, seeming more amused than anything.

Wally nodded cheerfully. "Super powers!" he cheered, and was promptly punched on the shoulders by Dick and Roy.

"Powers or not, we can still both kick your butt in sparing," Roy quipped as Wall hugged himself in an attempt to rub both arms at the same time.

Wally shrugged. "Rob can beat you without breaking a sweat."

Roy nodded, completely agreed. "Yes, but Rob can beat most members of the League. I've seen him beat the pants off of Dad, and Dinah and I laughed our heads off."

Dick shook his head. "Oh, Green Arrow. It's so much fun to out smart him. Not much of a challenge, but his reactions are hysterical, especially if I can get Black Canary on my side."

"So," Tony interrupted before they could get into another tangent, "why do you keep calling Wally Kid Stomach and KF? And what's with 'Rob'?"

Wally shrugged. "It's a nick name. Kid Stomach is because, as a speedster-the term we use to describe people with super speed like me, Dad, and Grandpa Jay-my metabolism runs considerably faster than a normal person. I have to eat nearly constantly to keep my systems going properly. When I'm not using my super speed it's not as bad, just a little faster than normal. That's why Roy's excuse for me worked. But when I use my super speed, I run the risk of passing out if I don't take in enough calories. I've seen it happen to my dad after really long missions, and trust me, it's not pretty. I can literally starve to death in less than a day."

"KF," he continued, ignoring Tony's interested look and Bruce's milder concern, "just stands for Kid Flash, my hero name."

Steve furrowed his brow, not liking where this was headed. "Didn't you say that your father is a hero that goes by the Flash?"

Wally nodded cheerfully. "It's not incredibly original, I know. But Kid Flash sounded a heck of a lot better than Flash Boy."

"And heaven forbid you come up with your own name," Dick added teasingly.

Wally aimed a playful punch at the little boy, who easily dodged with an eerie cackle, back flipping off the back of the couch and disappearing.

"Where did he …?" Clint asked, trailing off when he noticed a small form sitting on the back of Bruce's chair without the scientist noticing.

"Who?" the tiny ninja asked innocently, startling Bruce. As the scientist regarded him curiously, Dick smiled and jumped, flipping in the air and landing cross legged between Wally and Roy.

Roy rolled his eyes. "Show-off." He turned back to the Avengers. "I go by the name Speedy when I help Dad fight crime. We work in Star City against super villains. Our main one is Count Vertigo. We fight him, and others whenever they escape from prison and cause trouble."

The Avengers just stared at him, shocked and honestly horrified. These _children _were fighting crime?

Wally nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Flash and I fight in Central City. Our villains are called the Rogues, but their actually pretty nice when their not robbing banks and labs. The youngest two members are about my age. James is awesome when he takes his meds. It's only when he goes off them that he makes crazy inventions and blasts people with his atomic 'Snot Gun'."

Tony snorted. "Snot Gun?"

Steve shot him the harshest 'Shut Up Tony' glare he'd ever seen, and the billionaire quieted down.

Dick was regarding them solemnly. He was the only one who seemed to see their anger at the thought of child heroes. "We're well trained," he explained calmly. "We wouldn't be allowed out otherwise. You saw how we fought when those A.I.M grunts attacked. Wally's newest, he's only been a partner for a little over two months, so we kept him out of it until his abilities were needed. Roy and I had been training the majority of our lives before we were adopted by heroes. I was part of a family acrobatic act in Haly's Circus until a mob boss sabotaged the trapeze because Pop Haly wouldn't pay protection money and killed my parents. Roy's birth parents were killed in a fire and he was adopted by the chief of a Native American tribe who taught him archery before he died of cancer."

"Who are you when your fighting?" Bruce asked softly. He was working to control the Other Guy, but neither of them were happy about the fact that the little boy they had been carrying around and watching over these past few days was in dangerous situations like those.

"My name is Robin," Dick replied gently.

Obviously sensing Bruce's emotions, he walked over to the scientist and allowed Bruce to pick him up and settle him on his lap, holding him tightly. "I fight in Gotham alongside my daddy, Batman. We fight a lot of villains, most of whom are insane. To name a few, there's Poison Ivy, the Penguin, Bane, the Riddler, Catwoman, and the worst, Joker."

Dick paused when he felt Banner's arms tighten around him. "Does the Joker happen to be responsible for the letter J carved into your chest?"

"Yes," Dick replied calmly. "I've been captured and tortured by him on several occasions. But Batman has always come in time to save me before I've suffered more than superficial injuries."

Dick slid off of Bruce's lap and went to stand in front of the older heroes, with Wally and Roy quickly getting up and flanking him. "We are not naive children. All three of us are completely aware of the fact that what we do is a dangerous job. We know that there is a real chance that someday, one or more of us won't come back from it."

"You're children!" Steve burst out. "You shouldn't be living with that knowledge! You should be playing and worrying about school, not fighting villains and risking your lives!"

Dick- no _Robin_ Steve realized- met his eyes calmly. "We are not children, Captain Rogers. We are just young. There's a difference."

And with that, the eight-year-old hero turned, and before anyone could react, he was gone.

A/N **So, what do you think? I know Dick gave a lot of information, but I'd imagine he'd be kind of ticked at Steve for being angry at him after they helped them beat A.I.M, and so I could see Dick getting fed up and hitting them with information since they know so much anyway. Also, I like to think that Bruce would have gotten a bit protective of Dick during this time and not being happy that he's a child hero.**

**Reviews are encouragement, and encouragement brings better stories.**


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